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04851421 Proquest Resource/One Full Text U.S. Helps Mexico's Army Take a Big Anti-Drug Role Golden, Tim New York Times [NYT] ISSN: 0362-4331 Jrnl Group: News Date: Dec 29, 1997 Sec: A p: 1 col: 1 Type: News Length: Long Illus: Photograph Photocopy available from UMI Article Clearinghouse (order no. 60001.01). Restrictions may apply. Central Intelligence Agency; CIA Mexico International relations-US; Drug policy; Intelligence gathering; Law enforcement New York Times Current Events Edition 1997 Fiche lIS/Frame
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Abstract: Hoping to build a new bulwark against the flow of illegal drugs from Latin America, the United States is providing the Mexican military with extensive covert intelligence support and training hundreds of its officers to help shape a network of anti-drug troops around the country, United States and Mexican officials say. The effort has proceeded despite growing American concern that it may lead to more serious problems of corruption and human rights in one of Mexico's most respected institutions, United States officials say. A new United States intelligence analysis of the military's drug ties, for instance, will cite evidence of extensive penetration of the officer corps, two people who have seen draft versions of the assessment said. Mexico has long stood out in Latin America for the sureness of its civilian control over the military. But American officials said they had been troubled by indications that some officers detailed to the federal police have operated with considerable independence from the judicial authorities. With the Mexican Army searching for new missions, many American officials doubt that it will limit its participation in law enforcement to the two-year deadline that Mr. Zedillo and his aides set last summer. Item Availability: Paper.